Say Something to the Boy
by nintendosegasonyguy
Summary: An irregularly regular day at Gravity Falls leads to Dipper and Wendy going to the movies. Stuff ensues. (Takes place after the season 1 finale. Does NOT take into account season 2 episodes, since I started this story before the premiere of S2E1.) DipperxWendy, or Wendip.
1. Ch1 - Dipping Sauce

Say Something to the Boy

A Gravity Falls Fanfiction

**Chapter 1 – Dipping Sauce**

Summer. 12:00 p.m. Another day at the Mystery Shack.

For anybody else within its residence, it would've been another weird, adventurous day. Some (ahem) _mysterious_ thing would happen that would threaten the lives of more than half of the cheap tourist trap's employees, or Gideon would once again try to extend his sausage-like, pudgy fingers around the old dusty place. But today, it seemed, it was not one of those days.

Since she had first (somewhat reluctantly but then relaxingly when she realized how easy it was to slack off) gotten a job there, Wendy encountered very little of the bizarre or macabre. Yes, there was the incident with the ghosts at the convenience store (more like _inconvenience_ store!), and the fact that her ex-boyfriend Robbie tried to brainwash her into forgiving him for his dumbassery, but besides that, the only weird she got was Soos' apparent obliviousness, Mabel's incessant energy, and Little Dipper's stuttered stories about all the weird stuff he would see while wandering around in the woods. At times, she felt bad she missed out on some of the fun, but she still had all her other friends, her handful of bulky, hairy, and sweaty male family members, and even that brief stint life-guarding at the local pool.

Today was irregular, but only in the sense that she had seen very little of her fellow employees. When she first signed in, three hours ago, only Soos was there sweeping in the lobby to greet her. Unless spoken to, he wasn't especially talkative, and due to their age difference, it wasn't like they had too much in common to begin with. There was a mutual respect; she appreciated the fact that he was pretty good with the kids. Wendy often observed that a lot of the wonder twins' energy bounced back onto him, which gave him all his idiosyncratic ways and bumblings, plus a lot of the younger customers liked him. All Wendy did was give a curt, but amiable "Yo," and he returned the favor. Then...near silence. She busted out a magazine, he finished sweeping, told her he had other work to do outside, said "Later," and then she was alone. That was at, like, 8:30. Soos still had not returned. There hadn't been very many customers that day, either. Only a handful. Stan hadn't put a new attraction in for a while, and a few days ago, she had heard him grumbling under his breath something about Gideon launching some sort of smear campaign on this thing called the "internet." But wasn't the little twerp still in jail? Oh, whatever.

So, where was everyone? Maybe Dipper and Mabel were sleeping in, or they were out somewhere? Maybe Stan was doing something about Gideon. She didn't know. Not like she had gone searching for Soos to ask him anything. Though she was many things, Wendy could at least hold her post, plus if Stan found out she had left the cash register for even a second (at least without someone else there), she would expect a significant pay cut. Cheap old man.

The magazine finally ran its course. She tossed it aside. It made a light thumping sound on the wood floor. She could see a small dissemination of dust bunnies arise. She yawned and stretched, resting her elbow on the counter top. It was funny; she could barely remember the article she had just read, she read it so quickly. Some laughable thing about how a new local band getting a record deal with a big-name company, how they were creating a "new grunge wave" in a town as tiny and anonymous as Gravity Falls. Yeah, and Robbie was freaking Elvis. What a joke.

So...what now?

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long for that answer. After another minute, the front door burst open. Dipper, in his usual attire of red short-sleeved t-shirt, blue shorts, blue vest, and white baseball cap with a blue pine tree adorned on it, stood flushed and sweaty. He wore a big, triumphant grin and sauntered in.

"Well, that was quite an entrance!" Wendy said, sticking her tongue out at him and forming rock horns with her hand as a greeting. "What's got you so high and mighty?"

Dipper, a bit of his confidence dissipating, remanifesting itself as awkwardness, said, "I just beat Mabel at a staring contest. And she played _dirty_. She tried everything. Waving her hands in my face, trying to make me laugh with her weird masculine voice, tossing glitter on me...but I had none of it. Just planted my feet straight on the ground..." He did so, his fervor slowly coming back. "Took a deep breath..." He did so. "And refused to lose!" He smirked at nothing in particular.

Wendy laughed. "Nice! So where is she now?"

"She's still out there, mumbling to Waddles. She's always been a sore loser..." He walked around the counter and sat on the stool next to hers. She grinned and rubbed his head, displacing his hat. He laughed softly, with a hint of nervousness that was completely lost on her.

"So...what have you been up to today, Wendy?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much, really. It's been a slow day. I haven't seen Soos in hours and I haven't seen Stan at all. Heck, I was wondering where you two were! It's not everyday you guys don't all immediately show your faces."

Dipper spat out an explanation a bit too quickly. "Uh...well, yeah. Gruncle Stan woke the two of us up early. Said we were 'going to war' with Gideon. Frankly, Mabel and I were having none of it, so we ditched him after an hour or so. Haven't seen him since. Soos was outside cleaning the gutters. He said he found a gold earring. And then he wore it."

Wendy scoffed. Dipper grinned. "Yeah, seriously. So then we both were just sort of wandering around outside. I kept wanting to go look for this really cool beast I read about in the Mystery book – I think it was called a Hidebehind – but she wanted to have the staring contest instead."

"Huh. Sounds cool."

"Yeah, well, you know..." Dipper rubbed the back of his neck, a light blush creeping onto his face. His little legs dangled a few inches off the ground.

Mentally, he was kicking himself. He knew he shouldn't be so obvious, but as everyday passed by, he could feel himself getting more and more infatuated with the teen redhead. It was inexplicable. She just seemed so relaxed about everything. The first and so far (thankfully) only time he had ever seen her raise her voice was when she told Robbie off, and then in turn told him off. It wasn't a moment he liked to dwell on, because every other time he thought about her he could only think good things. As far as he could tell, she was perfect. Gorgeous, intelligent, witty, energetic, curious, whimsical, strong-willed...

Before he knew it, he was staring at her. As she turned her head towards him, he snapped his gaze towards the ground just in time.

"So have you heard of this stupid cheesy romantic-comedy coming out? It's called 'Endless Love is Like Soaring on Eagle Wings While Eating Chocolate Strawberries and Kissing Your Girlfriend, or "Love is Like Soaring" For Short?'"

"Uh, nope. No, I haven't. That's a TERRIBLE title, though."

"Pssh. I know, right?" The two chuckled. "It looks awful and absolutely hilarious. Would you and Mabel like to go see it with me? I figure we could all make fun of all the little girls who actually take that crap seriously."

He stared at her with an open mouth. "Me..." And then the rest of her statement dawned on him. "_And_ Mabel?"

"Yeah!"

Just then (speak of the devil), Mabel somehow burst into the room even more dramatically than her sweaty twin had a few moments ago. The sound of the wooden door slamming against the wall was quite loud. She was wearing a cobalt-blue sweater and light blue shorts. The sweater had the word "Yes" sowed on it with bits of pink and purple glitter drawing attention to it.

"Hey, Wendy!" She greeted, flashing her toothy, braces-filled smile. When she looked at Dipper, she stuck her nose up in the air and said dryly, "Dipping Sauce." Wendy covered her mouth to hide a giggle. She would never get used to that silly nickname. Dipper rolled his eyes, vaguely upset that alone time with his crush was being interrupted.

Returning her attention to Wendy, Mabel asked "So what's up?"

"How'd you like to see a movie?" Wendy asked her.

"Ooh! Sounds fuuuun," Mabel cooed. "Which one?"

"'Love is Like-"

"'SOARING ON EAGLE WINGS WHILE EATING CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRIES AND KISSING YOUR GIRLFRIEND, OR "LOVE IS LIKE SOARING" FOR SHORT?!'" She finished in a loud, silly fit.

"Uh, yeah."

"I'D LOVE TO!"

"Sweet!" She turned to Dipper. "So how 'bout it, Dips? You in, too?"

"Oh!" Mabel exclaimed. "You also invited Dipper?"

Wendy cocked her head, confused. "Of course? Why wouldn't I?"

Mabel flashed her shiny grin at Dipper. "Hold on. I need to talk to my brother alone first." Dipper gave her a questioning glance, but she winked at him.

"Uh, okay," Wendy said. With that, Mabel stretched one arm (completely engulfed in sweater) and grabbed Dipper's hand. She dragged him around the corner into the main hallway.

"Hey! What is it?" Dipper said, yanking himself out of her clutch once they turned the corner into the hallway.

"YOU HAVE A DATE!" Mabel quietly but ecstatically shouted at him. Her wide eyes shimmered with wonder.

"WHAT!" Dipper screamed. He covered his mouth, realizing Wendy must have heard. His cheeks flushed blood red. He crossed his arms. Making her volume, he said, "Why would you even say that?"

"Because she asked you to a movie! A ROMANTIC movie~!"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but it looked so ridiculous. Too ridiculous to get all emotional over."

She laughed, wavy her arms about in typical hyperactive fashion. "Ho ho ho, someone's in denial..."

"Oh, shut up. You're coming with us, so it doesn't really matter."

"Ha!" She put her hands on her hips, grinning wickedly at him. "Who says I am?"

"Huh?" Dipper said, suddenly feeling a bit panicky. "You just told Wendy you'd love to see it with us!"

"Maybe I had my fingers crossed behind my back. You don't know, and you could never convince the cops otherwise!"

Dipper could feel himself getting worked up. This happened whenever Gruncle Stan yelled at him to do some stupid chore, or Robbie made embarrassed him in front of Wendy by making fun of his height and his immaturity. "Mabel, you can't do this to me!"

"I'm not gonna be a third wheel on one of your dates, nosiree! The only wheel I'd ever be is either a wagon wheel or a cartwheel!" To demonstrate her point, she did a cartwheel right into the wall. She fell back onto the ground, but only laughed in typical silly Mabel fashion.

"_It's not funny_!" He screamed, again probably loud enough for Wendy to hear but this time he didn't care.

She frowned, getting up. "Why are you freaking out so hard about this? I'm trying to do you a favor and give you some alone time with your girl!"

"Okay, first, she's not my girl. Second..." Whatever anger he made have had suddenly disappeared. "I couldn't go out with her on my own. Like, I know we'd just be going as friends. I'm not about to misinterpret anything. It's just, it'd still sort of feel like a date, you know?" When she shook her head, not understanding, he went on. "Wendy and I have hung out a lot just by ourselves before, but this wouldn't really be the same. Not to me, at least...and I can't even really explain why. I wouldn't even know what to say! I'd be so freaked out I'd say something stupid, that...I just...I dunno. I'm just afraid, alright? Because I'm liking her a little bit more everyday, and..." He took off his baseball cap and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't meant to go on a little rant about his anxiety, but it did make him feel a little bit better about getting all that stuff out there, especially with the person he secretly trusted most in the world.

Mabel shook her head and sighed. "You're going to a movie, Dipping Sauce. It's not the end of the world. If you could be Mr. Smooth Criminal with her during the party we had a few weeks ago, then there's no reason why you can't do this. Just remember what I told you, back then. Just be yourself. Just talk to her like you normally would."

Dipper put his hat back on and sighed. "But that's just it. I'm not sure I still can for very long. It's...just getting hard to be around her. I have to force myself to stay seated and not to suddenly just lean over and..." He couldn't finish the sentence, so he made a rolling motion with his hand.

Mabel stifled a giggle. When he glared at her, she realized he was serious. So, she walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Again, it's just a movie. How much talking are you REALLY going to be doing? Just concentrate on the movie."

Dipper sighed again. "But that's just it. I couldn't just watch the movie because it looked _so stupid_. She wanted to go see it just to make fun of it, and everybody who actually cared to see it."

"She WHAT!" Mabel screamed, her face going red. "How dare she mock people like me! Now I'm DEFINITELY not going with you two!"

"Ugh..." Dipper moaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He slid down the wall and landed in a crouch. "What am I going to do?"

Mabel rolled her eyes. She rested her elbow on his head. "I really think you're blowing this out of proportion. And if I were you, I would've already done some big romantic gesture and told her how I feel. But if you're gonna be such a big baby..."

"I'm NOT being a baby!" He grumbled into his arm. She couldn't help but chuckle.

"Either go with her to the movie or don't. Your choice. But I really don't think I should go. I'll probably see it with Grenda and Candy – they wanted to see it with me anyway. And look on the bright side. You'd have Wendy to yourself for two whole hours at least, instead of just a pillow with Wendy's face on it. Even if you're afraid it's gonna be all awkward, at least you won't have to worry about any of us interrupting. If you _really_ think it'd be too hard to be alone with her for that long, then just don't go. Make up an excuse. It's not the end of the world. But you going at all shouldn't be." She did have a point, and it was rare for her to be so astute for that many sentences in a row (minus that pillow comment, which irritated him). When it came to topics that really concerned him, Dipper could always count on Mabel to give some halfway decent advice.

He looked up into his sister's eyes. "You really think I can pull this off?"

Mabel smiled. "Of course I do. And it's like you said – you'd just be going as friends. Remember that every time you start to get nervous, and you'll go right back to talking like a normal person, instead of the guy who stays up every night for an hour thinking about her." She giggled at his frown. He sighed and stood back up.

"Alright. I guess I'll go alone."

"Hooray!" Mabel held up her hand for a high-five. Dipper smiled weakly and slapped her palm. The dynamic duo walked back into the foyer. Wendy was still sitting there, intently waiting.

"Uh...is everything okay, you two?" Dipper stared uneasily at Mabel, but she rescued him.

"I don't think I'm gonna go. I forgot that Waddles has an audition to be Ducktective's new sidekick tomorrow and I promised I'd help him prepare tonight," Mabel said. Wendy and Dipper just stared at her. It was so irreverent, so off-putting that it didn't even strike either of them as weird. Just Mabel being Mabel.

"But I'll definitely come with you," Dipper said.

"Alright, cool!" Wendy said, holding out her first for a bump. Dipper shakily bumped her fist. "Well, I think I'm gonna head out. Our little secret, remember?" She made a lock-and-key motion around her mouth with her hand. Dipper mirrored her movement. She smiled. "I'll pick you up at 8, okay? The movie's at 9."

"O-Okay, sounds good..." Dipper mumbled shyly.

"Great. See ya two later!" Wendy hopped over the counter, and exited the shack. A moment of silence followed, and then –

"Ooh, Wendy..." Mabel wrapped her arms around herself and made kissing noises.

"STOP IT!"

"Hahaha! I'll never stop!"


	2. Ch2 - Time

**Chapter 2 – Time**

The rest of the day was as uneventful for the Pine twins as it had been for Wendy in the morning. Soos eventually returned, thoroughly coated in dead leaves and odious muck. The bulky simpleton hung out with Dipper and Mabel for a bit, even getting Dipper to help him move some branches he had cut down earlier that morning out of the yard, which surprisingly didn't take long. The two of them just threw them in a random spot in the surrounding woods.

Gruncle Stan came back at around 3 p.m., without a word as to what he had been doing. "I'll be watching TV. Nobody bother me," was all he said as he rushed out of the room.

Dipper and Mabel burned the rest of the hours away just hanging out in their room. Mabel knitted several more sweaters, each with increasingly wacky and flashy designs. Waddles kept nibbling at them. She keep laughing and playfully pulling them out of his mouth. When he bit a whole chunk out of one sleeve, she got a bit worried. She decided it was time to let him out, and so she put him in the yard. Dipper was nose-deep in the Gravity Falls Mysteries book. Gruncle Stan had given it back shortly after he first gave it to him. He was desperate to ignore the rising butterflies in his stomach, in preparation for his get-together with Wendy. Any amount of, well, ANYTHING else he could do to distract himself for just a few hours was good enough.

He was just finishing a rather disturbing but still interesting passage about some sort of zombie monster by the name of Redead, when Mabel threw a golf ball at him.

"Ow! What was that for?" Dipper snapped, rubbing a spot on his head.

"Dude, it's 6 o' clock. Shouldn't you be getting ready for your _daaaaaate_?"

Dipper's cheeks puffed up. "Hmph! It's fine. I still have two hours before she comes." And to be fair, if she treated this like she treated work, it was more like he had two _and a half_ hours.

His mindset had changed quite a bit from when Stan had the dance party at the shack a while back. Back then, he would've spent hours writing and revising a list of things he would do in order to catch Wendy's heart. But after watching countless clones of himself melt before his eyes, including...(sniff) Tyrone, and just being able to talk to Wendy like a normal person and get more out of a night with her that way, he knew the best thing for him to do was spent as little time as possible freaking out. He knew he couldn't help himself as soon as the doorbell rang and Wendy arrived, but until then...

Mabel scoffed and shook her head. "I forgot; you're a boy. When boys go on dates, all they have to do is shower, get dressed, comb their hair, put on deodorant, and that's it. It takes them no time at all, whereas with girls, it can take us hours of prep work."

Dipper shrugged. "I don't see how."

"Well, girls have to put makeup on and stuff. Guys don't care as much how they look."

Dipper put his book down and sat up. "That's not true. Guys care just as much as girls do."

Mabel burst out in mocking laughter. "HA! Oh my gosh, you are the single most clueless person in the world! No, the universe! Even aliens know how wrong you are! The _manotaurs_ you met a while back know you're wrong!"

Dipper's face went red. "Okay, okay, fine! We don't care as much, but we still care!"

"Okay, okay, okay..." she said, her laughter slowing. "Even if _you_ do – and believe me, you're in the minority, here – then it doesn't take you nearly as long to get ready for a date."

"You keep calling it that, but it's not a date! We're just seeing a movie as friends. Stop trying to make me read further into it than that, because it's just gonna make me more nervous. And you're exactly right! It doesn't take us nearly as long to get ready. I've got plenty of time!"

"Oh? So what was your 'getting ready' regimen going to be?"

"Well, I dunno...I guess just put on deodorant or something?"

Mabel's eyes went wide with wonder. "HOO, BOY! You're in trouble. It's amazing."

Dipper crossed his arms. "What? What's wrong with that?"

"DUH, you were outside with Soos earlier, moving heavy logs and getting all sweaty and dirty. You don't think that means you should take a shower, at least? Heck, I've been smelling you this whole time! And were you gonna wear those same clothes? Look at your socks! They're brown!"

Dipper lifted his pit up and smelled it – she was right. He lifted his leg up and looked at his sock – she was right. "Well...I guess you do have some valid points." He could've made the excuse that Wendy probably wasn't going to doll herself up for tonight, but he knew Mabel would say that that was no reason for Dipper to not care.

Mabel nodded and held up her hand. In a deep voice, she said, "Respect."

"Guess I'll go take a shower," he said, getting up off the bed.

"Good boy," she said, lightly punching his shoulder. "Just remember, I'm the one who's been on dates before, so I know what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, _well_..."

8:10 p.m. Dipper had taken a shower, brushed his teeth, put on deodorant – the typical stuff. He was dressed in a black t-shirt with the album design of Pink Floyd's _Dark Side of the Moon_ album on it (a shirt Mabel was so jealous of that she had knitted a black sweater with the same design for one of her "Mabel's Guide to Life" internet videos), cargo shorts, and his staple baseball cap. Mabel had been bothering him about what to do and when, but he had barely listened.

The two of them, along with Gruncle Stan, sat in the living room near the front door. A re-run of "Ducktective" was on but only Stan was really watching it. Dipper with a dull expression rested his elbow on the arm of the couch. He was ignoring this adorable look his sister was giving him.

"My brother's finally becoming a man..." she whispered. He felt like sinking into the cushions of the couch and disappearing.

"Pssh," Stan scoffed. "He has a long way to go before he becomes a man, Mabel."

Dipper glared at him, until he remembered the whole thing about how his great-uncle was just trying to prepare him for the hardships of the world and become a man. _I guess he's right_, he thought.

Finally, the doorbell rang. Dipper immediately jumped up out of his seat. His heart and his stomach suddenly felt like competitors in the Olympics, trying to see which one could do more flips in a row. He raced to the door, his sister hot on his heels.

"Have fun, kiddo! Don't screw it up!" Stan called.

Mabel beat him to the door. She opened it and greeted his crush. "Hi, Wendy!"

"Hey, squirt," she said. She was dressed in the same green flannel shirt, jeans, and hat she had been wearing that morning. She looked over at Dipper and smiled. "Ready?"

Dipper swallowed and nodded. He could feel beads of sweat form on his forehead.

"Bye, love you, Dipping Sauce!" Mabel boomed, pulling him into a hug. "_Remember, just be yourself, be cool, and you'll be fine_," she whispered into his ear. The two broke their embrace. He and Wendy went through the front door, to the night which awaited them. Mabel watched them go.

"Ooh, I like your shirt. Pink Floyd, right?"

"O-Oh, yeah...my parents are big fans, so Mabel and I have heard a lot of..." Their voices soon became inaudible as they approached Wendy's car. Mabel closed the door and smiled to herself. She returned to the living room.

"How much you wanna bet he blows it?" Stan asked her.


	3. Ch3 - Who Wants a Lamby Lamby Lamby?

**Ch.3 – Who Wants a Lamby Lamby Lamby?**

The car ride was the easy part.

Well, relatively speaking.

The duo of teenager and tween talked a lot during the trip. Wendy was very animated. Dipper would've preferred to just sit in silence, because with every word he spoke he was closer and closer to saying the wrong thing and embarrassing himself. Not to mention, Wendy wasn't exactly the best driver. It was hard for him to hold down a conversation while he clung for dear life to his seat, as the designated driver made 25º swerves between lanes and barely slowed down when making a turn.

Technically, being 15-years-old, she only had a learner's permit, so she shouldn't have even been driving, but since everyone knew each other in their small town, no one cared. Least of all the cops. Even if they did get pulled over, Wendy knew her dad, "Manly Dan," would be able to sort out any kind of difficulty. He had said that if she was mature and responsible enough to buy her own car with her own money, then she could drive it despite the law, and that he would except responsibility on her behalf if she got in trouble. Unless she got into a car accident that was her fault, then she could kiss the car goodbye. "_Grounded forever!_" her dad had barked, when she first got the keys.

The car was also a piece of crap (which is probably why she was able to get it for so cheap). It was really old, there were several aesthetic scratches and scuffs on the outside, the passenger side was filled with bags of chips and old fast food cups, the seats were covered with dusty shag carpet which smelled weird, and worst of all, the air conditioning did not work. They had driven no more than two minutes before Dipper was dying from the summer heat and asked if he could roll down the windows. He wondered what she did during the day time, when the sun actually blazed overhead.

Despite ALL of that...Dipper would still admit that he was having fun. Anywhere was great as long as Wendy was there too.

"No way! He seriously said that?" Dipper exclaimed.

"Totally not making this up, dude. Thomson did this whole big gesture. It was really sweet, but Tambry turned him down. It was a real shame, but man, we all kept slapping him on the back for trying."

"That's cool. It's nice that you have so many awesome friends."

Her gaze left the road for a moment to look at him. "What about you? Do you have a lot of friends back home?"

Dipper rubbed the back of his head. "Uh...yeah. Yeah. Sorta." The truth was, he really didn't. He was much more of a shy bookworm type. Mabel was the social butterfly, although she sometimes did have trouble because she was so hyperactive. Never stopped her, or even slowed her down, though. It certainly slowed Dipper down. He had one or two friends, but even then, he wasn't especially close to them. He wasn't going to admit that and sound like a loser, though.

"Hm. I think it's better to have fewer friends. Quality of quantity, you know? I'd rather have a few really close friends than a whole bunch of people I barely know."

"Yeah, I totally get that. Would you say you're close with all those guys?"

She shrugged. "Eh, sort of. I'm probably closest to Tambry, but even then, I can only ever really get her attention if I text her. She's pretty quiet otherwise. The rest of the guys are all cool, but...eh, I dunno." A brief moment of silence followed.

"We're almost there, by the way."

Dipper nodded. "Oh, good. Uh, did you want to get some popcorn or candy? I brought some money."

She giggled. "That's sweet of you to offer, but _I_ invited _you_ to see the movie with me. I'll take care of it."

"Are you sure? 'Cuz I can really-"

She smiled. "No, it's cool, man. Save your money for something special. But I will say that let this be a lesson to ya. When you start dating and you ask a girl out, you pretty much have to pay for everything. It's, like, dating law. If she asks you out, I'd say you still need to offer. Probably best to split it 50-50. God knows I dated enough guys who didn't know the first thing to do after actually asking me out." In an oafish voice, she belted, "'Oh, you wanted to go out to eat? What's wrong with McDonald's?'" The two of them laughed.

_When I start dating..._ Dipper thought, after things quieted down again. She was giving him good advice, but the low self-esteem part of him made him think she was talking down to him, like he wasn't ready for all that. _Still a kid in her eyes..._

He shook his head. He couldn't let himself do this. He wouldn't let himself ruin the night.

"So tell me something," Wendy said.

"Yes?" Dipper replied, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Tell me about the lamby-lamby dance."

His cheeks flushed. "Wha? What?"

"I dunno. I was just thinking about it earlier today. It was really cute, dude. I kept trying to remember the last little verse. How did it go again? 'So walk, walk, walk around the...?'"

"Heh. No. It goes, 'So march, march, march around the daisies. Don't, don't, don't you forget about the babies.'"

She snapped her fingers. "That's right, yeah. So you learned that dance when you were young?"

Despite the fact he was embarrassed, Dipper smiled, thinking back. "W-Well, yeah. I was maybe like 5 or 6-years-old."

"How and why did you learn it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Of course I don't mind. I can't remember what happened exactly, but Mabel was just really upset and crying for some reason. I wanted to cheer her up, so I asked our mom what I could do. She pulled me away and asked me if I was willing to learn a little song and dance. The "Lamby-Lamby Dance" was something her parents taught her when she was our age. I learned it pretty fast. To top it off, she happened to have the lamb costume – the same one she wore when she was a kid. I tried it on, and it fit perfectly. So Mom took me over to Mabel, and I did the routine for her." He laughed at the memory. "Oh, it made her so happy. She used to love it. For the longest time, whenever she was sad about something, I would quickly run into the other room, dress up, and do it for her, and it would always cheer her up." His smiled slowly disappeared. "Of course now she just sort of teases me about it, but it's not a big deal. Even if it is a kid thing, I have really fond memories doing it for her."

"Awww!" Wendy cooed, putting her hand across her chest in earnest. "That's so sweet!" It really was. She could never see any of her brothers doing anything remotely like that. She could probably thank good ol' Dad for that. And their mother was...well...

Dipper smirked. "Mom thought so too. She loved seeing me do that dance. I used to walk around on my tip-toes a lot when I was young. She always wanted me to take a ballet class, but I never did."

"Ha! I can see that, you being a dancer. I think you'd be really good at it."

"Yeah, maybe..."

Silence followed.

Wendy swallowed. She felt nervous asking this next question. "Do you, uh, do you miss your mom, er, well, your parents, back home?"

Dipper looked at her. "Yeah. I miss them a lot. We don't call them much, though, because they're always so busy. Mabel and I, even before we came here, rarely got to spend time with them." He frowned and looked out the passenger side window. "You know, sometimes I think Gruncle Stan is more of a-"

The car hit a hole in the road, causing the two of them to yelp and Wendy to swerve a bit.

"Woah!" She exclaimed. "Sorry about that. So what were you saying?"

"Oh, nothing. Nevermind."

"Hm..." She wanted to say more, but she didn't feel like prying. Dipper didn't sound like he wanted to talk about it anymore.

For the next few minutes, nothing else was expressed. Dipper stuck his head out the window slightly and looked up in the sky. Even though they were in a more urban part of Gravity Falls, he could still see hundreds of stars in the sky. He tried to spot the Big Dipper. It didn't take him long.

"Welp, we're here. And with twenty minutes to spare!" Wendy said, once again upbeat. Dipper looked across the hood of the car, and indeed, the looming theater was right there. The car turned into the parking lot. Wendy parked haphazardly in two parking spots.

"Uh, Wendy..."

"I know what you're thinking. This place is never packed, trust me. It'll be fine."

He shrugged. The two stepped out of the dilapidated vehicle and went over to the ticket booth.


	4. Ch4 - Teenagers

**Chapter 4 – Teenagers...**

"Are you hungry? What size popcorn do you think we should get?" Wendy asked Dipper. The two of them stood in the theater lobby, right in front of the snack bar. It was a very rustic place, like the rest of the town. The air was thick with the scent of butter and various kinds of snacks, while the atmosphere was full of the chatter of people of all ages. There were several familiar faces all around, including Old Man McGucket, who was sitting on a bench alone with his head completely engulfed in a popcorn bucket.

A pale teenager with greasy black hair and several pimples on his face, waited for them. He looked terribly bored, like he couldn't wait for his shift to be over. He kinda reminded Dipper of Robbie, which made him feel like scowling. Wendy had said she had been expecting Lee, since he worked there, but it must not have been his shift that night.

"I'm not too hungry; we should probably get a large, though."

"You got it. What kind of soda do you want? We can split a large."

"Oh, uh...well, whatever you want is fine." Dipper tried to hide his blush. It wasn't even really that big of a deal. So they shared a drink. It just meant he had to avoid getting his backwash into the cup like the plague.

He could hardly handle it, her being so nice to him.

A few minutes later, the two made a pit stop. "Hold these. I gotta go to the bathroom," Wendy said.

"Okay, no problem," Dipper replied. He sat on a bench just a few feet away from both bathrooms. He thought about how the evening was going so far. He was certainly having fun. It felt nice opening up to Wendy a bit in the car.

_She seemed pretty interested in my parents,_ he thought. _Come to think of it, I've never seen or heard mention of her mother. Just her Dad and brothers. Maybe her mom's out of the picture?_ He was curious, but he wasn't going to outright ask her. Not unless the subject was brought up again.

Dipper watched as people went in and out of the bathroom. A little while later, Wendy came out whistling. "You need to go?"

"Yeah, I guess I better. Be right back."

"I'm not going anywhere." She sat down where he was just sitting, brought out her phone, and began playing around with it.

He always felt uncomfortable, seeing the long row of urinals. He hated times where he was using one of the middle ones as opposed to the ones on either end. Even worse if he was in between two other people. So usually, he just used the stalls. There were a few available, and he chose one of the smaller ones. He did his business, and then went to wash his hands. Mind wandering again, he looked at himself in the mirror as the foam encompassed his hands. He could see the nervousness in his own eyes. He took a few deep breaths.

Just as he was reaching for some paper towels, someone came out of the stall that had been next to his.

"Well, well, well..." said a voice. Dipper turned around. It was the last person he wanted to see.

Wendy's ex-boyfriend, Robbie, looking furious, towered over him. He still wore that ugly black sweatshirt, his hair was still stupid, his eye makeup was still emo, and his long nose still looked like a hot dog. "If it isn't little ol' Dipshit."

Dipper's immediate reaction was of fear, but really, what was he going to do? There were several other people around. Fear immediately transformed into irritation. He'd be damned if Robbie would ruin this night for him.

"What do you want, Robbie?"

"Oh, nothing," he said sarcastically. "Just Wendy back. 'Cuz, you know...you made her break up with me, and now she won't talk to me."

"Dude, you tried to brainwash her and you lied about writing a song for her. I'm her friend. What was I going to do? What would you do if you were in her shoes and that happened to you?"

"Oh, shut up. Like you would know what being a boyfriend is like."

"T-That has nothing to do with-"

"Uh, is there a problem, here?" Some random dude went over them, trying to see what the fuss was all about.

"Nothing, it's fine. We're fine," Dipper said.

"Oh, we are _most definitely_ _not_ fine..." Robbie said.

"Look, I don't have time for this," Dipper said. "You're gonna make me late to my movie."

"Oh, boo hoo. What movie are you seeing?"

"None of your business." Dipper walked out the restroom door. He hurried over to Wendy.

"Okay, let's go," he said hurriedly.

"Took you long enough, Dips..." Wendy said, getting up. Dipper was practically dragging her. "Woah, what's the rush?"

"I...I just don't want to miss the trailers. I really like seeing them."

She shrugged. "Whatevs. I don't care." The two went into their theater just as Robbie stepped out of the bathroom.

Robbie looked around, wondering where the little pissant had gone. He sighed and frowned as he went over back towards the entrance.

Leaning against a wall, looking up from her phone, Tambry said, "Sheesh. That took forever."

"Whatever," Robbie said curtly. "Let's just go."

They were seated in the furthest possible row from the front, dead in the middle. If Wendy wanted to, she could stand up and cover the projection. She just might, if the movie would really be as bad as she thought.

As expected, there were a lot of little and teenage girls. The place wasn't exactly packed, but it sure was loud. Dipper even thought he saw Pacifica and her clique come in at one point. There were a lot of boyfriends who looked terribly squeamish about being dragged to see this. Dipper certainly felt like one with them.

He sat to Wendy's left. Her slender, delicate arm was seated on the arm rest. Palms sweating, his hands were clasped tightly in his lap, sweating profusely.

"Hey, look," Wendy said, pointing. "'Ducktective: The Movie.'" The movie screen kept fading in and out of black with every prophetic line of dialogue taken out of context, as most epic action movie trailers are presented. She grinned at him. "You think Waddles is ready to be a movie star?"

"Ha!" He laughed. "I can see him being the dinner." It was kind of a mean joke, but she laughed. His heart skipped a beat.

The two continued to exchange playful banter throughout the trailers. It all felt completely natural. Dipper cautioned himself before and after he said every word. At no point did he say something and then immediately blush because he thought it was stupid. At times, the two laughed so loudly that they got stares from the people next to them. At other times, they saw genuinely interesting looking movies. They would give each other a thumbs up, shaking-sideways hands, or thumbs down depending on how much they did or did not want to see a particular movie.

Every now and then, he would eye either of the entrances, constantly thinking about whether or not Robbie would show up, but he never did (thank God...). He thought he might have seen a friend or two of Wendy's, but he wasn't sure and he really didn't want them to interrupt his time with Wendy, so he didn't say anything.

Finally, the trailers ended, and the film began.


	5. Ch5 - Well, That Was Fun

**Chapter 5 – Well, That Was Fun**

As it turned out, the movie's marketing campaign was false. Yes, the movie did have a few jokes, here and there, but the focus was much more on the romance between the leads and the drama surrounding their relationship, as opposed to romantic-comedy. There were lots of oohs, ahs, aws, and screaming from the patrons in the audience throughout.

Wendy sat bored through the entire thing, unable to show any interest. The lead guy wasn't funny, smooth, or attractive whatsoever. The lead girl was completely oblivious to the guy's feelings and was a bitch to him throughout most of the movie. None of the supporting cast were funny or memorable; it was just constant annoyance, and not in a way that was easy to make fun of. It was bad-bad, not funny bad. Wendy knew 30 minutes in that she had made a big mistake, seeing it. Spending time with Dipper was totally fine, and fun as always, but she just wished she could've taken to see a better movie. She would've walked out, had she not dropped $12 on each of their tickets and food. She didn't believe in just wasting money, even if it meant slumming it through a bramble patch like this. Also, the title did not pertain to the movie at all. No chocolate, no strawberries, no soaring eagles.

"Isn't this just utter crap?" She asked Dipper in a whisper, about 30 minutes in.

"W-What? Yeah, totally..."

"Sorry, I dragged you here...I thought it'd at least be entertaining." To pass the time, she kept flicking popcorn into her mouth, challenging herself to make trick shots every so often. 

So, Wendy hated it.

Dipper, on the other hand, found himself surprisingly invested in the movie.

Perhaps it was just his limited life experience or his limited experiences in the theater, but he saw a lot of himself in the main character. It sort of hurt, but in a good way.

"Why can't you just tell her how you feel?" The main character's best friend asked him, after it was established he liked the female lead.

"You don't get it, dude! It's not that easy!" Dipper found himself nodding, completely empathizing with the guy. As the character talked more and more, he realized the dude sort of shared his similar mannerisms, quirks, and adventurous attitude. The dude wasn't exactly going around looking for mysteries or anything, but he liked sci-fi and video games enough to have that sort of mindset.

The leading girl didn't get along with the main protagonist for the longest time, but she was cute in Dipper's eyes, and once a few hurdles were hopped over he genuinely believed in their romance. Though even Dipper knew it was cliché, the main protagonist stood under her bedroom window at night with a stereo playing some pop song he didn't recognize. From then on, she looked at him in a whole new light, until ultimately, they ended up together. At the end of the second act, a misunderstanding separated the two leads, but the conflict was eventually resolved.

At some points, Dipper had to stop himself from getting choked up, especially at the end. Thankfully for him, there was an atmosphere of loud sobbing all around, so Wendy wouldn't notice if he joined in.

Finally, the movie concluded. The giant, glowing movie screen cut to black, a song began playing, and the white block of credit text began scrolling up (_very slowly_, as Wendy perceived). It seemed every boy in the theater, with the exception of Dipper, and Wendy shot up out of their seat and began filing out. Everyone who enjoyed the movie lingered in their seats.

Wendy yawned and stretched. Nonchalantly, she said, "Well, that was the worst thing I've ever seen in my entire life."

Dipper blinked a few times before looking up at her. He nervously sputtered, "Y-Yeah! Totally. What a piece of crap and totally not the sweetest thing I've ever seen."

"Alright, let's get out of here. Come on." Wendy turned around and walked down the aisles towards the exits. Dipper followed in pursuit, distracted by his replaying of his favorite scenes over and over again in his mind.

As they entered the lobby, Dipper suddenly remembered his altercation with Robbie. He looked around, very wary that the two would meet again.

"Sorry I dragged you to see that," Wendy said over her shoulder as they headed for the exit. Dipper trailed behind her slightly.

"Oh, it's okay." He ran up to her side.

Wendy laughed. "I wish I could be as cool as you when one of my friends drags me to a crappy movie. I wouldn't wish that on any of my enemies."

Dipper smirked. "Mabel has dragged me through enough direct-to-video Disney sequels in my lifetime. Did you know there were like four Cinderella movies?"

"No way. Really?"

"Yeah. I didn't even like the first one that much, but all the others...sheesh. Although I think the TV movies Gravity Falls gets are also pretty terrible. One was about a teenage werewolf who goes to a disco or something. I don't even know. I fell asleep 'cuz I was so bored."

"Hahaha..."

The two exited the theater. The temperate evening air filled both their lungs. There were several people walking around the parking lot.

Wendy checked her phone. "Oh, wow. It's only 10:20."

Still under the pretense of hating the movie, he replied, "Wow. It felt so much longer than that."

"I know, right? Well, do you have to be back at the shack? I don't really have a..." Her voice trailed off and she drew to a halt. Dipper blinked, wondering what was suddenly wrong. And then he looked ahead.

Through the van window, the pair could see Robbie in the driver's seat and Tambry in the passenger seat. It was just the two of them, and they were both yucking it up. It was clear that they were there on a date. Tambry had never gone a few moments without looking up from her phone, until now, apparently.

Dipper grew tense. So that's what he had been doing there.It enraged him on Wendy's behalf, but it also outraged him how Robbie had made such a big deal about Dipper breaking the two of them up yet here he was acting like none of that ever happened.

Wendy cleared her throat. She started walking again. "So anyway, I don't really have a curfew. We could go do something else or something."

"Uh, Gruncle Stan generally doesn't want me out too late. Wendy, I-"

"Oh, okay. I can take you home then." The two reached her car.

The drive was pretty quiet. Dipper kept trying to make small talk, and Wendy was responsive to it, but she wouldn't bring up any new topics on her own, unlike before.

The drive was halfway over when Wendy said, "You know, I'm not really even mad."

"About Robbie?" Dipper said, knowing exactly where this was going.

"Yeah, I mean...Robbie and I didn't really go that well together. You remember, he didn't really act like he cared about anything. He was a real jerk, and of course, the hidden messages in the music. I'm more concerned about Tambry, really, being the rebound and all." She started talking more quickly, her tone bordering on dismayed. "I feel even worse for Thompson, now. I bet he didn't even know. I bet nobody else knew, and that's why they didn't tell me. Right?" She glanced at Dipper, but didn't wait for him to give a response. "It's not like I hadn't told everybody what happened. I mean, when you have your circle of friends and you break up with someone in that circle, everybody's gonna find out sooner or later. They all did and we all chastised Robbie for it. I confided in Tambry just after he and I broke up, Dipper. I told her what he did, and yet she still..."

An awkward pause. Dipper couldn't think of anything to say. This was well beyond his realm of experience. It was times like these when he felt truly like a kid. He could deal with Mabel's romantic escapades, but Wendy had three years on both of them, and especially with all her friends, it was way too complicated.

Wendy was also uncharacteristically driving very well and carefully, which scared him nearly as much as her driving had before.

"Maybe I'm just overreacting. I do that sometimes. Hell, I probably do it all the time. Maybe I shouldn't be so upset that Robbie moved on so quickly, and maybe I shouldn't be so upset that he went after one of my friends." She looked back at Dipper. "What do you think? I've just been talking and talking." Her voice cracked. "Please, tell me what you think." She blinked several times and turned back to the road.

Dipper thought fast. Controlled and careful, he said somberly, "Well...I think it's a really crappy thing for the two of them to do. To be honest, I...I wouldn't really know what to do in your shoes."

"You know what it is? I think Robbie's just trying to make me jealous. And you know what? I'm not gonna let him. I won't let this get to me." She cleared her throat. "Let's talk about something else."

"Okay."

A pause.

"You know, I had a lot of fun tonight..." Dipper said, being very careful with his words.

"Yeah," Wendy replied, her nonchalant tone beginning to return. "So did I. We don't get to just hang out enough."

_Believe me, I know..._ he thought.

"We should do this again. I hear there's going to be a B-movie marathon on TV in a few days. We would _actually_ be able to make fun of those. You wanna come by my house and watch them with me?"

Dipper smiled. "I'd like that." Already, they were making more plans. It surprised him, but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

What surprised him even more was when Wendy, without warning, sped up her car to drastic speeds.

The rest of the drive carried on without any further dialogue. Within another 10 minutes, Wendy pulled up to the Mystery Shack's driveway. The light above the front entrance illuminated the porch and much of the front lawn.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I'm off but I might swing around anyway," Wendy said. In the moody lighting, Dipper once again found himself transfixed in his crush's face. He quickly snapped himself out of it.

"Y-Yeah, I'll see you then...t-thanks again for taking me to the movie."

"No problem, Dipping Sauce."

Dipper unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the passenger door, and stepped out. He was just about to cross the car to the front door, when he stopped and turned around.

"Wendy?"

She looked up from her phone. "Yeah?"

Dipper took in a deep breath. _Be brave...be brave for her._

"I'm sorry about what you saw. I just wanted to say that you deserve better people in your life. An amazing, hilarious, beautiful person like you...you're too good for both of them. Just..." He stopped. "Just know that I'm here for you, okay? I would never do something like that to you. Ever. Not in a million years."

Wendy blushed slightly, but in the darkness, Dipper didn't notice. "T-Thanks, Dipper..."

He smiled. "You're welcome. Goodnight."

"Goodnight..."

Dipper closed the car door and went up the porch steps to the Mystery Shack. He knocked on the front door three times. Within a few seconds, Mabel opened it and greeted him. _Loudly._

"Hiiiii! So how'd it go?!"

The mature, adventurous 12-year-old spent the rest of the night recounting the events to his twin sister (first taking a shower, though). Stan had greeted him and said some embarrassing things, causing him to say "Goodnight" over his shoulder and rush right upstairs, where Mabel had been.

He found it very amusing, how her eyes would grow wide and then shrink back to normal during key points in the story. She would gasp every so often, or give him a smile, or lightly punch his shoulder. Naturally, he left out the part about him loving the movie, because he knew he'd never hear the end of it.

"...And that's when I knocked on the front door," Dipper finished, hopping into his bed. He puffed his pillow up and brought the blanket up to lap. Mabel was hanging upside off one side of her bed, wearing a periwinkle-colored sweater with a cartoon image of the moon on it.

"Wow!" Mabel said excitedly. "Such drama!"

"Tell me about it...it was really awkward up until she dropped me off."

"Did you really say all those nice things about her?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

"You said you called her 'beautiful' and stuff."

He blinked a few more times, and then blushed. "Oh man...I guess I did."

"That's not like you, to be so direct with your feelings," Mabel teased.

"Shut up..." He chucked a pillow at her, and then chuckled when it smacked her in the face.

"Ah!" She sat up, legs dangling from the bed. She pointed at her brother. "Oh, don't get a pillow war started that you aren't prepared to finish..."

"Haha...I'll take you up on that tomorrow."

"So do you think it's getting easier, having all these feelings for her?"

He shrugged, but wore a tiny smile. "Yeah, maybe it is...

"You loooooooooove her..."

Dipper rolled his eyes, but his smile remained. "It doesn't hurt that Robbie really seems out of the picture." His eyes darkened, thinking back to his rival.

"Yeah, that was uncool of him to go and do that to Wendy..." Mabel shook her head, disconcerted on her part.

"The good thing is there's no way she'd ever take him back, after that."

"I wouldn't. Some friend Tambry is, too." She scrunched up her face in thought. "I love Grenda and Candy, but I don't know what I'd do if one of them all of a sudden started dating Mermando. Not that I am – I haven't seen him for a while." She touched her chin in deep thought. "Come to think of it, I haven't been to the pool for a few weeks. WE haven't been to the pool! He could've sent me a million bottles by now!" She grinned and stood right up on her bed, jumping up and down like it was a trampoline. "Let's go to the pool tomorrow!"

"Yeah, I'm up for it. Might be nice to actually swim, this time, instead of dealing with that nut-job life guard..."

"I'm gonna go ask Gruncle Stan!" She leaped off her bed and ran out of the room. "GRUNCLE STAN! GRUNCLE STAN! GRUNCLE STAN!"

Dipper giggled a bit, before he laid back, hands behind his head. He gazed up into the ceiling. _Relationships are more complicated than I thought...and not just, like, romantic ones._

He thought back to the movie.

_Maybe...maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I told Wendy how I felt._

He frowned. _No...no. Not yet._

_**Author's Note: Normally I don't like to do these kinds of notes, because I find them a bit distracting when reading a fanfiction, but I still just want to give a big "Thank you" to all who have been following the story and reviewing. It really means a lot to me, especially considering how little attention it's getting on Deviant Art.**_

_**I have Chapter 7 almost complete, but not Chapter 6. Been writing out of order a bit, but everything is uploaded in order. That has caused a bit of delay. I know where I want to take the story, but it's all about making ends meet. I started writing with the intent on definitely having one specific event occur. You might have already guessed the nature of this event.**_

_**Thank you again! Please keep reading! Leave a review if you liked it, or if you didn't.**_


	6. Ch6 - Insight

**Chapter 6 – Insight**

The bright sun blazed. The cool refreshing pool water splashed. The patrons and little kids laughed and screamed. The smell of chlorine emanated through the air. The whistling followed by the thunderous boom of Mr. Poolcheck's strained, R. Lee Ermey-reminiscent voice occasionally bellowed.

Gravity Falls' local pool.

The Mystery Shack's gang had all arrived in tow. Dipper casually walked through the gate leading into the swimming area. He wore a thin white t-shirt and black,white, and blue swimming trunks with silhouetted turtles on them. Mabel, skipping blissfully at his side, wore the exact same pink one-piece she wore the last time they went to the pool. Soos, giant potbelly exposed, scuttled about behind the tiny twins, wearing jet black trunks. Stan Pines, dressed surprisingly more modestly than he did at home, confidently strode behind all of them. His eyes peered in the one spot he loved the most at the pool.

"Yes!" Grunkle Stan exclaimed in his usual grumpy, gravely voice. "No one has taken that chair yet! And because that little snot Gideon is in jail...it's mine for the taking!" He rushed over to his favorite spot, equidistant from the snack bar and bathroom with just the right amount of shade and sun, and leaped upon it. "I'll be over here, kids and Soos. Don't bother me." With that, he spread himself out, and drew in several steady breaths of relaxation.

"Bye, Mr. Pines!"

"We'll see you later, Great-Uncle Stan!" Mabel called over her shoulder. With a hand over her eyes to block the bright sun, she surveyed the pool. "You two see any green bottles?" Soos and Dipper glanced around the pool.

"No, sorry," Dipper said.

Worryingly, Mabel turned to the pair. "You...you don't think Mermando has forgotten...?"

"No, dude. No way," Soos said confidently. "Even though I never met the guy and thus know nothing beyond what you've told me about him, I don't think he'd leave you hanging like that." He pointed over to the head lifeguard, Mr. Poolcheck, who was currently cartwheeling over to some rowdy children in the kiddy pool section. "Maybe you could ask him; see if he's seen any?"

"I dunno..." Mabel said with uncertainty. "The dude seems kinda...whacked."

"He might be your best chance," Dipper said solemnly. "They might be in the storage closet where he keeps all the pool supplies, or something."

"Do you still have the key to it?" She said, excitement returning.

He frowned. "Uh, no. You got me fired, remember? I had to give my key and my whistle back. Mr. Poolcheck ate my whistle – I told you about that and you laughed for like five minutes straight!"

"Oh...oh, yeah. Sorry about that."

Dipper shrugged. _Just water under the pool...er, bridge._

"Well, if you two are good, I'm gonna go check on those inflatable pool floaties. See if they made it out alive, or if they got re-captured." Soos' face grew dark. "So help me, Gosh, I will make sure they get the freedom they deserve..."

"Uh, Soos..."

"Yeah, Dipper?"

"...Nothing. Nevermind. Good luck."

Soos saluted him. With that, he walked away from the similar-looking pair.

"Well, I think you should talk to Mr. Poolcheck," Dipper said. "I think I'm just gonna swim. Good luck."

"Thanks, Dipping Sauce." She nudged his shoulder and winked. "And if I see a certain redhead, I'll be sure to push her in your direction." She walked away.

With that, Dipper donned a neutral expression and shuffled over to an empty chair. He dropped his sun-block and water-proof bug-spray atop his light blue towel. He stripped his shirt off and carefully folded it next to his supplies. He took the bottles and started applying them around his nearly bare body. He readjusted his hat so that it clamped extremely tight around his head.

Once all set, he began walking back towards the pool. He was just about to jump in, when he heard a female voice call for him.

"Oh, Dipper! Hey!"

Instinctively, Dipper turned to the source. What he saw nearly made his jaw drop onto the hard cement. There stood the love of his life, Wendy Corduroy, in a green bikini (which bore a peculiar flannel-like design). Her stomach and legs, as pale and freckled as her face and arms, were completely exposed to the blistering sun. In his eyes, she shone, both metaphorically and literally. Water droplets decorated her body like Mabel's sparkly beads. Her hair was darker red than normal, since it was completely soaked. Matted down, it clung to her head.

"U-Uh...hi?" Dipper responded shyly, accumulating shades of red to his face with every passing moment.

She smirked. "Cat got your tongue, dork? What's the matter?"

He cleared his throat and looked shamefully at the ground. "Oh, n-nothing..."

"Were you gonna swim with your hat on?"

Blush decreasing but without moving his gaze, Dipper said, "Well, yeah. I tightened it so it wouldn't fall off while I swam."

Wendy cocked her head and gave a concerned smile. "Still afraid people will make fun of your birthmark?"

"Tsk. Yeah..." A moment of silence (or as silent as it could be, with all the zealotry of the pool patrons in the background).

_This isn't like him_, Wendy thought. Unbeknownst to him, his shyness was coming off as antisocial. Despite this, she gave a kind smile. "I was just having a splash fight with Nate and Lee." She pointed, drawing Dipper's gaze, over to the pair of teenagers in the pool, who were going at it. Every time one laughed, the other would splash water right into their open gullet, forcing them to stop, only to start laughing themselves.

Nate looked up and saw the two of them. "Oh, hey! If it isn't Dr. Fun-" He was silenced by the slap of a man-made tidal wave.

"Dr. Funtimes!" Lee called. "Over here!" Then he was splashed.

"Oh, cool! I haven't seen them since the convenience store incident..." Dipper looked up at Wendy hopefully. "So..."

"Hm?"

"It isn't awkward with them? You know, after..."

She shook her head. "No, not with them. Nate texted me earlier this morning, asking me if I wanted to go swimming. We sort of talked about it on the way here. Both of them are pretty much siding with me and Thompson. They told me that they comforted Thompson and argued with Robbie about it. Thompson and I texted back and forth about it; I asked him if he wanted to come out with us today and said that he couldn't. I think he might still be just a little bit upset, but I dunno. Robbie and Tambry are kind of beside themselves, not really showing remorse or anything." Her smile widened. "I guess I'm better friends with these two guys than I thought."

Dipper smiled back at her. He was glad he wasn't the only one who supported her, especially after she had said she only really thought of Tambry as a close friend.

"Anyway, enough of this melodrama junk!" She said, stand up. "You wanna join us?"

"Yeah, sure!" Dipper said.

"Okay, great. Hey, what's that?" Wendy said, pointing.

"Hm?" Dipper turned around, only for his crush to shove him head first into the water. Now completely submerged, his eyes broke open wide in surprise. He could feel the water rush to his nose, as he hadn't had the change to clench it shut before he leapt in. He flapped his arms through the water, managing to break through the surface. He coughed, sputtering the water out of his mouth and nose. His hat looked like a white and blue mushroom, it was so mushed upon his head. He rubbed his eyes before looking back up. Wendy stood above him, arms crossed in a sarcastic fashion.

He frowned angrily. "Oh, it's on..."

Wendy teasingly put her thumb on her nose and stuck her other four fingers out. "Big talk for such a _little Dipper_..." She grinned at him scandalously.

Dipper's face dropped for a second, only to be replaced by a ferocious scowl. He involuntarily splashed her in revenge. She laughed and jumped into the pool next to him, splattering him in the face. Despite her grave insult just now, he couldn't help but smirk. Anyone else and he'd still be fuming.

"WOOH!" Nate and Lee yelled together.

For the next several minutes, the splash war was on between Dipper and his teenaged friends. The splash war became so immense and intense that other people began getting caught in the crossfire. It wasn't long before Mr. Poolcheck catapulted himself into the pool in between the four jokesters.

"ALL OF YOU STOP THIS TOMFOOLERY IMMEDIATELY!" He screamed, eyes and veins protruding from his face and neck. Immediately, Wendy, Dipper, Lee, and Nate all stopped and looked at him. He glared down at Wendy and Dipper. "Well, if it isn't the two _sloths-_" He spat with unnecessary venom, "whom I once trusted with my very own life..."

Cynically, the three teenagers rose their eyebrows, while Dipper quivered a bit in fear. He hated it when adults yelled at him, his great uncle withstanding.

Menacingly, Mr. Poolcheck leaned forward into their faces. His voice lowered to a growl. "Enough of the splashing, or I'll have the four of you out of here so fast the pool water wouldn't even move."

Standing back up, he somersaulted back onto the concrete and moved on. Nate and Lee both flipped him off behind his back while Wendy rolled her eyes.

"What a dick," she said. "Glad we got as much out of that job as we did, huh Dipper?"

Blushing, Dipper nodded.

"Man, forget him!" Lee said. "Let's play something else. How about Marco Polo?"

Wendy looked unsure. "Eh...I dunno. Remember what happened last time?"

Lee suddenly turn self-defensive and blushed. "That was ONE time and she forgave me!"

"Hm? What happened?" Dipper asked.

"Well, he-"

"Don't tell him! He's just a kid!"

"Oh, come on! It was funny!"

"What?" Dipper looked at her. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. Dipper's face switched from nervousness, to shock, to pure embarrassment. When she pulled away, he said, "Oh, dude...rough one."

"Hmph! It wasn't a big deal," Lee said, crossing his arms. His friend laughed.

"Okay, so what else could we-" Nate began, only to be interrupted by the high-pitched wailing of a 12-year-old girl calling for her brother.

"DIPPER! DIPPER! DIPPER!"

Eight pairs of attentive eyes directed themselves towards the girl in the pink one-piece swimsuit. She ran over to them on the edge of the pool, miraculously avoiding the penetrating gaze of Mr. Poolcheck, and stopped in front of them, panting.

"First, hello, Lee, Nate, and Wendy!" She waved at the three teenagers, who waved back. "Second, I need to talk to my brother for a sec." By the concerned look in her face, he immediately assumed there were no more bottles from Mermando.

"Okay. I'll be right back, guys," Dipper said. He swam over to the edge of the pool. His sister helped him up and out and then dragged him over to the shack where the pool equipment was held. Dipper glanced over his shoulder to see his friends talking and laughing amongst themselves.

"So I'm guessing you didn't find any more bottles from Mermando?" Dipper asked.

Mabel shook her head. She looked like she might burst into tears, despite the fact she was energetically hopping from one foot to the other. "I...I guess he forgot about me..."

Dipper didn't know what to say. He just sympathetically stared at her. Thankfully, she continued, "Mr. Poolcheck didn't know what I was taking about and told me to 'Scram.' I asked around a bit, even that one kid who lives in the high-security jail cell...but no one had seen any of the bottles. I checked the equipment shack-" Mabel pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "-but...there was nothing." Tears welled in her eyes. "I really miss him, Dipper..." She buried her face in her hands and began sobbing.

Though before the incident with Blendin' Blandin' and Waddles, Dipper would've simply looked at his sibling's crisis with cynicism, considering she was known to have a lot of temporary obsessions (not to mention, she was in the whole "boy crazy" phase), but now, he knew how important the merman was to her. He hugged her. It took her a second to hug him back, but when she did she buried her face in his shoulder. After a few moments, the two pulled away.

"Maybe he's just been busy enjoying time spent with his family?" Dipper said. "I can't imagine he'd just abandon you, or move without some sort of goodbye message. There is absolutely no way."

Mabel sniffed. "I dunno...what do you think happened?"

Dipper thought for a moment, and smirked. "Do you think there's some sort of renegade recycler on the loose? Finding empty bottles just to throw them into those big blue bins?"

"Pssh..." Mabel scoffed, but the upper curls of her mouth twitched.

"Hey, is everything alright?" The two looked up, to find Wendy approaching them. Dipper again had to work to focus on her neck-up.

Mabel wiped her face. "It's nothing..." She remembered her promise to her crush, how she would never tell anyone that he was a merman. She downplayed her sorrow for Wendy so she'd be less curious. Dipper patted her shoulder.

"Well, okay..." Wendy hated it enough when others pried into her personal issues, so she didn't push her.

Mabel looked at her brother. "I think I'm gonna head home..."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Dipper asked, without hesitation. On the one hand, he wanted to keep hanging out with his friends (and Wendy), but he couldn't help the fact that his sister always came first – a fact he may or may not have unconsciously resented because he had been sacrificing left-and-right for Mabel all summer, but if he didn't go with her, he knew he'd feel guilty the rest of the time he stayed at the pool.

She blinked and sniffled. "Actually, kinda, yeah..."

"Okay..." He looked up at Wendy. "I guess we're gonna head back. But it was fun! We need to do this again, sometime."

Wendy smiled and rubbed his his head. His hat made squishy squelching noises in his ears. "Of course, dude! I'll still see you for movie night, though, right?"

"Of course!" Dipper grinned.

"Awesome sauce. Bye!"

"Bye!" With that, Wendy turned around and jumped back into the pool to her friends. The resulting splash barely missed Dipper and Mabel.

After informing their great-uncle that they were heading back, the two grabbed all their belongings and walked to the shack.

Dipper and Mabel sat in the living room. The TV was one, but neither of the twins was really watching it. Dipper, after drying off, set his used towel on the couch and sat upon it. He had put his t-shirt back on. Mabel sat on the floor next to the couch, still in her one-piece. Between quality time with her brother and playing with Waddles, Mabel felt much better. She talked a lot about Mermando and all the good things they shared together.

"He could really play guitar," Mabel was saying, as she played patty-cake with her movie star pig. "At least, a few chords. But BOY, could he play those chords. He played a few songs for me. Traditional fish-man songs from his family. He even wrote one for me. He played it just before I took him to the lake."

"I hope it didn't have weird, backward messages in it..." Dipper cracked.

"Don't compare Mermando to Robbie, boy!" She pointed accusingly at him.

"Okay, okay, sorry..." He said, putting his hands up in defense. "But no, seriously. He sounds like a real romantic."

"Oh, he was...and he was so nice. Was a total open book. We only spent so many hours together, but I feel like I really got to know him, you know? Isn't that right, piggy-piggy?" She poked Waddles' nose, causing him to oink affectionately.

Dipper nodded. "I think I know exactly what you mean."

Mabel smiled mischievously. "I bet you REALLY know Wendy, then..."

Dipper shrugged. "I dunno. I feel like every time we hang out I learn something new about her."

Mabel looked at him curiously. "What do you think you'll learn about her when you go over to her house for movie night?"

Dipper's cheeks felt heated. "I can only imagine."

"Do you think you'll finally tell her when you go over to her house?"

Dipper's gaze faltered to the floor. "I don't know...maybe...still thinking about it. Weighing the pros and cons."

"What ARE the pros and cons?"

"Pro: I tell her, she returns my feelings, we start dating, and everything's roses. Con: I tell her, she rejects me, is disgusted with me, and we never talk again." He frowned, frightened at the thought. "I wonder if it's really worth the risk. I mean...I'm kinda happy where we are now."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I mean...we hang out a bit, we get along, we have fun. Me telling her how I really feel can flip the switch to even more fun or no more fun at all."

"That's not the impression I've been getting. You staring at Wendy, all starry-eyed, writing poems for her..."

Dipper glared at her. "And what do you know?" He bit his tongue, preventing him from using all her past failed romances against her, because he knew this was the worst possible time for that.

She sighed. "Look, Dipper...I guess I don't know everything about your situation, and I don't want to make your decision for you. It's totally up to you. But take it from me: you really don't want to leave anything unsaid. It's only the middle of July; you still have plenty of time with Wendy, but still. I thought I had more time with Mermando. You never know when time's up, and it's game over, man. Game over."

Dipper frowned. "I wish you wouldn't be so pessimistic about him, and we never should have watched _Aliens_!"

Mabel giggled. "Just remember what I said, okay?" She stood up and looked down at her beta-twin. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Thank you for walking me home, by the way. I feel a lot better because of you." She walked to the stairs and disappeared upstairs.

Dipper focused his attention back to the TV, but ran her words over and over through her mind. He still felt a little insulted, but at the same time very flattered by Mabel's gratitude. He looked down at his feet towards Waddles, who returned his stare.

"Mabel, am I right?"

"Oink!"

Later that night, Dipper lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the Corduroy girl. It was so quiet he could hear Mabel's slow, soft breath from the other side of the room.

_'You still have plenty of time with Wendy...'_

_I can't believe I only have a month and a half left with her. I need to figure this out, and soon._

Dipper rolled over on his side and fell asleep.

_**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, ya'll! This was a big chapter, the longest thus far. A few passages were rewritten over and over again. It took me a lot of time and dedication to get it satisfactory.**_

_**I hope Mabel's dilemma with Mermando was handled okay. I tried to use it as a juxtaposition to Dipper's dilemma with Wendy. I tried not to focus on it too much, while at the same time not just completely glossing over it, because what would be the point of including it otherwise?**_

_**As I mentioned before, much of Chapter 7 is already written. I just need to add a few extra passages and it will be released. Then after that, there might be one or two other chapters before this whole thing is wrapped up.**_

_**Thanks again for your patience! More to come soon!**_


	7. Ch7 - Love Will Tear Us Apart

**Chapter 7 – Love Will Tear Us Apart**

_Movie day._

Dipper sat on the Mystery Shack's front porch, nervous as all hell. It was 4:30. The afternoon light still enclosed the area with warmth and brightness, and yet slowly but surely grew darker as the evening approached.

The Corduroy girl would be there any minute, to sweep him up and take him to her quaint cabin in the woods, rebuilt within a few days by her father and brothers after her brothers chopped a tree down right on their old one. Dipper interviewing Manly Dan at the time, was quite shaken and offered to help him rebuild the home, but the lumberjack father declined, saying it was a job for "real men." He grounded his sons "forever," salvaged what he could from the wreckage, and replaced all of their destroyed possessions so quickly that Wendy barely had time to react, let alone be upset. It made no difference to her because she still had her clothes, her TV, her bed, and most importantly, her own room. It was in her room where the duo would watch their movies together.

Dipper had been left pretty much to his own devices, that day. He got the occasional tease or hint from Mabel, Stan, and Soos, but he took it all with a grain of salt.

He had finally decided what he wanted to do, and this time, he didn't need a million steps to do it.

Within a few moments, Wendy's old ugly car bumbled down the road, heading down towards the shack. Dipper smiled and blushed slightly as Wendy poked her head out of the open driver-side window, waving and shouting his name.

A few more moments passed, and Wendy was greeting her little friend. "'Sup, doofus?"

"Oh, nothing much..." He chuckled nervously, rubbing his shoulder. "Just been looking forward to this all day..." All week, really.

"Yeah, me too, man. Dem movies are gonna be off da hook! Come on!" She led him over to her car.

The mocking laughter of tween and teen bounced off of the latter's bedroom walls.

Wendy and Dipper were in the middle of a particularly trite and poorly acted b-mummy-movie. They had no issue commentating over all of the lifeless dialogue or lame chase scenes.

"That is ridiculous!" Dipper said, pointing at the screen. "The mummy is moving at like 0 mph! Why can't he outrun him?!"

"It just one of those clichés," Wendy said, sipping a Pitt Cola. The two were laying on on their bellies side-by-side on her bed, eyes glued straight to the standard-def CRT television. Wendy's room was messy, but not as messy as Dipper would've expected. He suspected she tried to clean it up for him and gave up midway through. He chuckled at the thought. He didn't care either way.

"_Mommy Mummy Danny Daddy_ will be right back after a word from our sponsors!" Commercials began blaring from the silver screen.

"I've never wanted to watch commercials more in my life after that..." Wendy cracked. Dipper laughed.

"Yeah, it's a real doozy..." They would just shoot the shit whenever whatever crap movie was on was mercifully interrupted.

"So a couple of days ago I was reading the latest issue of _Indie Fuzz_. Something stupid about how a local band here is making some sort of grunge revitalization here in town. I love 90's bands, especially Nirvana and The Melvins, and when I read that, I called b.s."

Dipper, not being much of a music-lover at this point in his life, barely followed what she was talking about. Nirvana sounded familiar, but he didn't know anything about "grunge." He just kept nodding.

"There's no way those guys would ever be able to compare. Guess what their name is?" Dipper shook his head. "'The Intercourse Guns!' Can you believe that?" He blinked. Wendy's mouth dropped open. "You don't get that reference?!"

_Well, pretending to know what she was talking about lasted._

"They're making fun of The Sex Pistols, the originators of punk, dude!"

Dipper rubbed his neck. "I've never heard of them..."

Her eyes flashed. "You need a real musical education! I need to sit you down and take you on a tour sometime." She pointed over to a shelf adjacent to the bed. Dipper saw that it was littered with CDs and vinyl. A cursory glance revealed such band names as Black Flag, Patti Smith, Blink 182, The Sex Pistols, Green Day, American Football...few of which he was familiar with. He saw _Dark Side of the Moon_, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and a few other bands his parents listened to a lot, but there was little else he recognized.

He turned back at her. "That's quite a collection."

Wendy smiled. "Thanks, but it's not diverse as I'd like it to be. Mostly just punk stuff, with some classic rock and indie strewn about. My friends are all into that kind of stuff, except classic rock, so I found like half of that through them." She paused. Her tone grew tense and considering. "Not to go down that road again, but though Robbie is a dick, he at least showed me some good music. That's one thing I got out of knowing him."

Dipper rolled his eyes, but he could see how Robbie could do that, being in a band and all. _Probably does a lot of covers..._

Her normal tone returned. "I don't know how Dad did it, but when my brothers destroyed our last cabin, he somehow replaced all of my music. Literally, EVERYTHING. There was not one CD or record I could think that was missing." Dipper shuddered at the memory of her house's unscheduled demolishing (even more at the thought of what would've happened if she had been in the cabin at the time), but was interested in her father's deus ex musica.

"Woah! Seriously? That's awesome!"

Wendy laughed. "I know, right? I thanked him to no end and asked how he did it, because I don't know if you know this, but there are like no music stores in Gravity Falls. Not one. He winked at me and basically told me he has his ways. My best guess is that he knows someone up in Portland; that's where me and all of my friends go.

"But anyway, Lee showed me an Intercourse Guns song, and I gotta tell ya, it was unlike anything I had ever heard. I mean, yeah, grunge-esque, but at the same time, very original. It's really indescribable. After we finish these movies, I'll have to show you a song."

Dipper smiled. "Sure!"

A woman's scream alerted them that their movie had resumed.

Night fell. It was past 8 before they knew it.

Dipper and Wendy continued to watch movies until they got sick of it. Wendy switched the TV off and began thumbing her way through her music collection.

"Where is it? Where is it...?" Wendy's music shelf was just as disorganized as the rest of her room. "Ah! Here it is. The first Intercourse Guns album." She grabbed the jewel case. "Check out the name."

Dipper's gaze fell to the CD, and his cheeks rose with blood. "_Songs to...Copulate to_...heh. I hope they're being ironic."

"Oh, totally, dude. The music isn't really tongue-in-cheek, but I think the guys in the band are in real life. You can tell." Walking over to her computer, she opened the disc drive and placed the shiny circle in. After a few moments, a music player opened up automatically, and grunge graced their ears.

"You keep listening to this; I'm gonna order a pizza." Wendy left her bedroom to make the call. Her brothers and father were out on a camping trip, so they were left to fend for themselves.

Dipper lay back on the bed and focused on the music. It wasn't bad. He wasn't extremely fond of the screaming, considering he was more used to gifted singers like Ian Gillian, but it wasn't too bad.

Soon, his mind drifted to thoughts of Wendy. The whole room smelled like her. His arms spread over the bed, feeling the soft sheets underneath.

_Okay, when she comes back...I'll...I'll tell her._

The CD was past the second song by the time she came back; that was how short they were. "The pizza should be here in like half an hour. And isn't that stupid, how we have a delivery pizza place in this town and yet not a single music store?"

Dipper looked at her. That long-sleeved flannel shirt he loved so much. Her light brown, floppy hat that hugged her temples and ears. That long, lustrous red hair. Her pale, snowy skin dotted with little dots called freckles. Her eyes so green it felt like he was staring into the face of jealousy itself. The only thing she lacked was her trademark boots; instead, her somewhat large and wide feet were bare on the room's carpet. If not for that, she would've looked the same as the Wendy he always imagined whenever he thought of her.

"Yeah..."

An hour later, and two white plates coated with pizza grease lay at the side of Wendy's bed on the floor. The two once again lay on the bed together. Now, they were listening to Blink 182.

Wendy lay on her back, hands behind her head, eyes closed, tiny smile adorned. Dipper lay on his side on one arm, facing her. He couldn't stop staring at her face. She was so close he just wanted to wrap his arm around her and hug her.

_Tell her...just spit it out..._

"W-Wendy?"

Her eyes opened. "Yeah?"

Dipper looked away shyly, and blushed a dark, angry red. "Can you pause the music? I need to tell you something."

"Sure, man." She got up, crossed the room, and switched the record player off. She jumped back on the bed. Dipper had sat up.

"I..." Dipper began, trying to form his words. "I...these...these past few weeks we've spent together..." He stole a glance. Wendy was patiently staring at him. She wore that same tiny smile.

"You just...you mean a lot to me..."

"Aw, dude...you mean a lot to me too!" She patted his shoulder. She was surprised when he gripped her hand.

"No! That...I mean, that's true, but what I'm trying to say is..."

Pause.

"Wendy, I'm in love with you. I...I've loved you since the day I met you."

_Oh. Well. There it is._

He hadn't planned to include that last part.

But that was it. Nothing could ever be the same again. At the same time, it felt good. It felt just as good as he thought it would. It didn't matter to him that he was slightly embarrassed, that his cheeks were redder than tomatoes. Dipper watched her face like a hawk, bursting with anticipation. She immediately looked surprised, naturally, and a light blush crept onto her cheeks.

Though truth be told, it had dawned on her a long time ago that Dipper might have a crush on her (even before Soos oafishly told her and then tried to cover it up by replacing "you" with "eucalyptus"). There had been a lot of little BLATANT hints, here and there, like when the two of them worked as lifeguards at the local pool. Really, he got that job just for her! It also occurred to her that Dipper had never liked Robbie, especially after she and him started dating. No wonder he had freaked out so much when he discovered Robbie using hidden messages in that music! Every step of the way, he had been trying to protect her, help her, and make her happy.

Despite all this, she would never have thought he was completely in love with her. He was only 12-years-old! Just a kid, still!

"Dipper, I...I mean, I-"

Instantly, anxiety flew through his veins. It was coming, that inevitable rejection. He didn't want to hear it, to allow this feeling of warmth and beauty to suddenly be stifled when it had taken so much out of him to place it there in the first place.

Before he knew what he was doing, he had thrown himself at her, in part to silence her but also because he couldn't take it anymore. Heart pounding like a jackhammer, mind racing, palms sweating, he was suddenly in her lap, arms wrapped hastily yet delicately around her neck, hoping to absolve all the personal demons he had kept inside. In a romantic, yet misguided way, all he could do was mimic what he had seen elsewhere, from TV, from movies (much like the one they saw just a few nights ago), even from real life. His hands swam gently through her smooth, fiery red hair like waterfalls. His forehead was touching hers, which had caused his hat to become displaced and fall off of his head. The cap lay forgotten on the ground, next to the plates. His lips were forcefully pressed to hers. It felt so good, completely unreal.

She did not freak out. She did not throw him off. Not at first. Her eyes went wide. She could feel the ridges of his astronomical birthmark brush against her forehead. So surprised was she that Dipper had kissed her three times in rapid succession and was now moaning before she lifted her arms in protest. She tried to gently push him away. "Dipper, wait. I-"

He pushed back against her hands and kissed her again. She could feel his tongue sloppily poke her lips, but she would not open her mouth. He gave up immediately, not daring to upset her, and buried his head into her neck, kissing and licking the soft, porcelain-like skin. He could smell her hair, and it was wonderful, like strawberries. In spite of herself, she couldn't help but moan. It was really messy and wet, but she had had enough boyfriends that she was used to such an amateurish approach.

_WHAT AM I DOING?!_ She thought. She pushed him away with considerably more force. "Knock it off!" she screamed. He fell out of her lap and onto the floor, panting and blushing like a madman. Wendy withdrew into herself, crossing her arms over he legs in a fetal position. She hid her blush behind her arms.

Dipper quickly stood up. "Wendy, I, I-"

"I think you should go."

Dipper frantically waved his arms around. "W-Wendy! I'm sorry! Please, just let me-"

She looked up. It destroyed him, seeing the hurt in her eyes. "I really want you to leave. Right now." Her face fell back into her metaphorical shell.

Defeated, his arms fell to his side, and his whole figure seemed to tip slightly forward into a hunch. It felt like someone was stabbing his chest, on the left pectoral. "That hurts, you know?"

She didn't answer.

"Can you promise me we'll talk about this? Please?"

Again, no answer.

The tears were coming. He didn't want to cry in front of her, to show utter, naked weakness. He turned and ran out of the room, down the hall, and out of her house, into the awaiting night. He was barely ten feet from the cabin when he finally started sobbing. And he _wept_. He rushed to a nearby tree and sat down, propping himself against it. It must have been the hardest he ever cried in his life. It was so paralyzing that he couldn't move. He slipped downward, onto his back, and curled up into a ball. His nose was starting to run really badly, but he did not care. He had no dignity left. He had laid it all, bare on the table, and it just cost him everything.

_Stupid...so stupid..._

He wanted his parents, he wanted Gruncle Stan, he even wanted Soos. Anyone. But most of all, he wanted his sister. His sister wouldn't ask who, what, when, where, why, or how. She would just hold him and let him cry until he was done. She would wait for him to say what was wrong, never giving an indication that she wanted to know herself.

He didn't know how long he stayed there. Before he knew it, he was suddenly very tired. It was as if the crying had sapped him of his child-like energy. He just wanted to go home and sleep.

He wasn't going to fall asleep in the woods. Not with all the weird monsters and comparatively, ironically normal animals around. What if he was kidnapped by the gnomes or something, in his moment of defenselessness? Slowly, he stood up on wobbly noodle legs. He wiped his face off on his shirt. It looked gross, but again, he didn't care.

He walked home. He prayed no one would notice him. When he got to his front lawn, no one was out there. Soos must've already left, and Stan wasn't in the living room like he usually was. He dragged himself up the stairs.

Before he even reached the top, he could hear girly screaming and laughing coming from their room. Grenda and Candy were there, it seemed.

_Mabel sure picked some night to have a sleepover..._ Dipper thought. Suddenly, he had never felt so alone in his life.

"Oh my Gosh, that movie was so freakin' awesome!" Grenda's masculine voice belted through the shabby shack walls, as Dipper turned right back around and went downstairs.

He sat in the living room and turned the TV on. There was nothing interesting to be seen, flipping through all 30 or 40 of these channels. At one point, he went past the channel which was still broadcasting the b-movies. His mind grew numb as he finally settled on an old rerun of Ducktective.

Stan walked in, wearing his normal night attire of white undershirt, gold-chain necklace, and boxer shorts. He observed that Dipper was sitting in his chair.

"Hey, kid. You're in my spot. Get up."

Dipper didn't say anything. With a numb, static expression, he rolled off the chair and fell to the floor. Confused, Stan shrugged his shoulders and said, "Should I even ask?"

A muffled groan was his only answer. He sat down in his chair. "Well, kid, if you wanna talk, man-to-man, I'm here for ya. Just say the word."

Dipper's breath grew short. He was a little taken back by his great-uncle's support. He was just about to get up and start, when-

"Ooh! I love this episode."

The moment was lost.

It was past midnight. Dipper lay awake, staring into the darkened ceiling. He had taken his shirt off and set it by the bed. He hadn't showered; he would've, but he couldn't grab pajamas for bed.

He was not in his room. He never went up to say "Hi" to her sister and her friends. He couldn't confess to strangers. Instead, he was lodged in the room where the shag carpet that transferred peoples' minds to others' bodies used to be. During the day, it served as Soos' new break room, but he didn't customize it, so it remained pretty much the same bedroom as ever. Without the experimental rug, the room was completely normal, if a little stuffy, and posed no real threat to anyone. There was the occasional bug to squish, or the spider to release outside, but it was nothing he was afraid of.

The bed was not especially soft or comfortable, but at least the blanket hugged him well. Normally, it wouldn't have taken him so long to fall asleep, but he didn't have Mabel's rhythmic breathing to listen to. He never realized just how much he relied on her to relax until now. It was funny to him, how all he could think about were girls, whether they be family, or...

He played the day's events over and over again in his head. Every little compromise he made with himself, all leading up to his confession. It was all he could do to not start crying again.

_I really want you to leave._ Her eyes when she said it...

He pushed himself further into the covers, taking a really big sniff, wishing he could sink through and just disappear.

It seemed the day would not be kind to him when he awakened. He dreaded the coming dawn.

He suddenly felt angry. Angry at the girl he had loved since the beginning of the summer. He didn't understand. He _couldn't_ understand. He sprang from his little nest and screamed into his pillow. He punched the wall, almost making a hole in its weak wood. His fist rang with the pain and possibly splinters, causing his eyes to water. Before he knew it, he was outright crying again.

After several minutes, he finally calmed down again. He breathed heavily, heart beating once again through his chest.

_Stupid...so stupid..._


	8. Author's Note

_**So still no new chapter...my apologies. It's just that school has been friggin' killing me. Very labor and time intensive, not to mention my dozens of other activities and hanging out with needy friends.**_

_**Some people have been confused about Ch.7's cliffhanger and have asked me if there will be more; rest assured, it is not finished yet. I hope to finish it soon, but I cannot guarantee anything. I only planned two or three more chapters after 7 before moving on to another story. It's just those last few pieces I need.**_

_**Thank you for your patience. Again, sorry for the wait.**_


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